The New York Times reported that Israel attacked the largest hospital in Gaza in the hope that the raid would lead Hamas to back down and accept the prisoner deal on terms proposed by Tel Aviv. An Israeli official said that if Hamas accepted the agreement, Tel Aviv would resume the war in Gaza after the prisoner exchange.

The newspaper reported, "Israel believes that the raid that took place on Wednesday on Al-Shifa Hospital will pressure Hamas to complete a deal to exchange dozens of Israeli prisoners for Palestinian prisoners, according to two senior Israeli officials." It adds: "Israel believes that by seizing Al-Shifa, which it says Hamas uses as a military command center and its patients as human shields, depriving Hamas of one of its most important symbols (Al-Shifa Hospital), the movement will be more inclined to exchange hostages, according to officials."

Tel Aviv failed to prove its allegations that Al-Shifa Hospital was being used as a Hamas headquarters or hostage-taking area. The Israeli raid on the hospital revealed a number of rifles and uniforms.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's eagerness to negotiate the release of the hostages represents a change in course for Tel Aviv. VICE News reported that it spoke with officials who said Netanyahu initially postponed the talks until after he could invade Gaza with ground forces. “It is clear that the Israelis wanted to launch a ground attack before considering this proposal, which has been on the table since the early days of the conflict,” a regional diplomat involved in the talks told VICE. He added that the broad outlines of the agreement have not changed since the beginning of the talks, but in the past few days the Israelis seem to be more receptive.

Then, the deal was delayed again because the Israeli prime minister believed he could score a political win by forcing Hamas to make a deal, according to a NATO official. “There has been a willingness to look into the matter [by Israel] in a way that we have never seen before. Netanyahu can now look at the Israeli public and tell them that it was his decisive actions in the ground attack that freed some of the hostages. The official continued: “[Netanyahu] sees the argument that the attack may have forced Hamas to make concessions, which is a short-term political gain, but it does not appear to be afraid to explain how hostages could die in air strikes when the same agreement was in place.”

The agreement, which is currently being mediated by Qatar, will see Hamas release the prisoners captured on October 7, and Israel release Palestinians detained in prisons, and the priority will be the release of children and women.

In addition, there will be a pause in fighting for three or five days to allow for an agreement. During the cessation of fighting, Israel will allow aid into Gaza. Axios reported that Israeli negotiators pushed to reduce the duration of any pause in the war.

Israeli Minister Benny Gantz explained that even if Tel Aviv agrees to a short cessation of military operations in Gaza, it plans to settle the war with its army. He added: "Even if we are asked to stop fighting in order to return our hostages, there will be no stopping the fighting and war until we achieve our goals."

The military operation launched by the Israeli occupation authorities in Gaza has so far led to the death of more than 12,000 citizens, including more than 4,500 children. United Nations reports also indicate that 1.5 million Palestinians have now been displaced. Israeli military operations have so far focused on the northern half of the Gaza Strip. On Wednesday, Tel Aviv dropped leaflets on a city in the southern half of the besieged Strip, asking civilians to flee. The evacuation order indicates that Israel plans to expand its operations in southern Gaza.